Counting device



1953 -w. R. JASPERSON 2,855,150

COUNTING DEVICE Filed April 13, 1955 UIII1-40 L Fc'owvrm lNVE/VTOR. W/LL/AM R. JASPERSON,

his Attorney.

United States Patent COUNTING DEVICE William R. Jasper-son, Gary, Ind., assignor to United States Steel Corporation, a corporation of New Jersey Application April: 13, 1955, Serial No. 501,158

8 Claims. (Cl. 235-98) This invention relates to a counting device particularly adapted for counting sheets andv plates as they are piled one on top of the other and is a continuation-inpart of my co-pending application Serial No. 360,655, filed June 10, 1953, now abandoned. One such device is shown in the patent to Mulquin No. 2,482,201, dated September 20, 1949, in which puffs ofair are occasioned by the turning over of sheets as they. are moved from one pile to the other. The device shown therein depends upon the air pull to move mechanical means and inv some instances the putt is not sufficiently strong to accomplish this purpose, especially when the parts of the device are not well lubricated. Also, the device requires the use of quite a few moving parts which are subject to damage and/or corrosion.

It is an object of my invention to provide a counting device which is actuated by the pufi of air created when an article is moved and which does not depend upon moving parts for actuating the counter.

This and other objects will be more apparent after referring to the following specification and attached drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic elevation of my device;

Figure 2 is a schematic wiring diagram of one particular circuit which may be used with my device; and

Figure 3 is a schematic wiring diagram, similar to Figure 2, showing a modified and preferred circuit.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, reference numeral 2 indicates a table having a pile of sheets 4 thereon. The inspector inspects the sheets S one at a time by turning them over and piling them on a second pile 6. A counting box 8 is mounted on the table 2 adjacent the pile 6 and is provided with a funnel 10 having its large end facing the pile of sheets 6. A filamentary resistor 12 is mounted in the bottom or apex of the funnel 10. This filamentary resistor 12 is connected in series with a limiting resistor 14 across a voltage source 16. The resistance of the resistor 14 is substantially greater than that of resistor 12 and the voltage supply 16 causes sufiicient current to flow through the resistor 12 to heat it above atmospheric temperature. In practice the resistance of resistor 12 is only a small percentage of the resistance of resistor 14. A circuit 18 is connected across the filamentary resistor 12 and includes an amplifier 20 which may be of any standard type. As shown, the circuit includes two tubes 22 and 24. The grid of tube 24 is connected to the anode of tube 22 by means of a resistor 26. The anode of tube 22 is connected to the voltage source 16 through a resistor 28. The anode of tube 24 is connected to the voltage source 16 through the coil of a relay 36. It will be understood that other types of amplifiers may be used in place of that shown and that the output therefrom will be connected to the coil of relay 36. When the coil of relay 36 is energized its contacts 38 close completing a circuit to a counter 40.

The operation of the device is as follows.

When a sheet S is turned and dropped on pile 6 a puff of air is created which is directed by means of the funnel 10 against the resistor 12, thus cooling the re-, sistor momentarily. This cooling reduces the resistance of resistor. 12 andv consequently reduces the IR drop across it. The current in this circuit remains substantially constant since the reduction of resistance in the filamentary resistor 12 is but a minute fraction of the total resistance in the circuit. The dip in IR drop across the resistor 12 creates a voltage pulse which is delivered by the circuit 18 to the amplifier 20 where the value thereof is amplified. The amplified output from the amplifier 20 is delivered to the coil of relay 36, thus closing its contacts 38. and causing the. counter 40 to operate. If" desired the relay 36 can be used to operate other devices such as a pressure indicator. It will be seen that the relay 36 will be. energized only momentarily each time a puff of air occurs to cool the filamentary resistor 12 after which the contacts 38 will open.

When using the circuit of Figure 2, I have found that the filamentary resistor is relatively slow in heating up after it is cooled and as a result the counter will not operate completely satisfactorily when sheets are turned especially fast. For that reason I prefer to use the modified circuit of Figure 3. As there shown cathode 22C is connected by means of lead to a point between resistors 12 and 14 and grid 226 is connected to bias. Since the tube 22 is conducting current will be supplied to the resistor 12, not only through resistor 14, but also through a parallel circuit consisting of resistor 28, tube 22 and lead 50. Thus the resistor 12 will be reheated much faster after each cooling than with the circuit of Figure 2. The operation is otherwise the same as in Figure 2.

While one embodiment of my invention has been shown and described it will be apparent. that other adaptations and modifications may be'rnade without departing from the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A device for counting articles which create an air puff when moved which comprises a filamentary resistor, a limiting resistor of substantially greater resistance than said filamentary resistor, said resistors being connected in series across a voltage source of sufiicient value to heat said filamentary resistor, means for directing each air puff against said filamentary resistor to momentarily cool the same, a circuit connected across said filamentary resistor, and a counter in said circuit adapted to operate each time an air puif strikes the filamentary resistor.

2. A device for counting articles which create an air puff when moved which comprises a filamentary resistor, a limiting resistor of substantially greater resistance than said filamentary resistor, said resistors being connected in series across a voltage source of sufficient value to heat said filamentary resistor, means for directing each air puff against said filamentary resistor to momentarily cool the same, a circuit connected across said filamentary resistor, an amplifier in said circuit for amplifying the voltage pulse created by each puff of air, and a counter connected to the output of said amplifier and adapted to be operated thereby each time an air puff strikes the filamentary resistor.

3. A device for counting articles which create an air pufi when moved which comprises a filamentary resistor, a limiting resistor of substantially greater resistance than said filamentary resistor, said resistors being connected in series across a voltage source of suflicient value to heat said filamentary resistor, means for directing each air puff against said filamentary resistor to momentarily cool the same, a circuit connected across said filamentary resistor, an amplifier in said circuit for amplifying the voltage pulse created by each puff of air, a relay coil e3 connected to the output of said amplifier, a counter, and a counter circuit connected to the contacts of said relay to operate said counter each time one of said articles is moved.

4. A device operable by the air puff created when an article is moved which comprises a filamentary resistor, a limiting resistor of substantially greater resistance than said filamentary resistor, said resistors being connected in eries across a voltage source of sufiicient value to heat said filamentary resistor, means for directing each air puff against said filamentary resistor to momentarily cool the same, a circuit connected across said filamentary resistor, an amplifier in said circuit for amplifying the voltage pulse created by each puff of air, a relay connected to the output of said amplifier and adapted to be operated thereby each time an article is moved and creates an air puff.

5. A device for counting articles which create an air puff when moved which comprises a funnel having its large end facing the articles to be counted, said funnel having an opening in its apex, a filamentary resistor mounted in said opening, a limiting resistor of substantially greater resistance than said filamentary resistor, said resistors being connected in series across a voltage source of sufficient value to heat said filamentary resistor, a circuit connected across said filamentary resistor, and a counter in said circuit adapted to operate each time an air pull strikes the filamentary resistor.

6. A device for counting articles which create an air puff when moved which comprises a filamentary resistor, a limiting resistor of substantially greater resistance than said filamentary resistor, said resistors being connected in series across a voltage source of sufiicient value to heat said filamentary resistor, means for directing each air puff against said filamentary resistor to momentarily cool the same, a circuit connected across said filamentary resistor, an amplifier in said circuit for amplifying the voltage pulse created by each pufi of air, said amplifier including a tube connected to said voltage source in parallel with said limiting resistor and in series with said filamentary resistor, and a counter connected to the out- 4 put of said amplifier and adapted to be operated thereby each time an air pufi? strikes the filamentary resistor.

7. A device for counting articles which create an air puff when moved which comprises a filamentary resistor, a limiting resistor of substantially greater resistance than said filamentary resistor, said resistors being connected in series across a voltage source of sufficient value to heat said filamentary resistor, means for directing each air puff against said filamentary resistor to momentarily cool the same, a circuit connected across said filamentary resistor, an amplifier in said circuit for amplifying the voltage pulse created by each pufl? of air, said amplifier including a tube connected to said voltage source in parallel with said limiting resistor and in series with said filamentary resistor, a relay coil connected to the output of said amplifier, a counter, and a counter circuit connected to the contacts of said relay to operate said counter each time one of said articles is moved.

8. A device for counting articles which create an air puif when moved which comprises a filamentary resistor, a limiting resistor of substantially greater resistance than said filamentary resistor, said resistors being connected in series across a voltage source of sufiicient value to heat said filamentary resistor, means for directing each air pufi against said filamentary resistor to momentarily cool the same, a circuit connected across said filamentary resistor, an amplifier in said circuit for amplifying the voltage pulse created by each pufi of air, said amplifier including a tube connected to said voltage source in parallel with said limiting resistor and in series with said filamentary resistor, and a relay connected to the output of said amplifier and adapted to be operated thereby each time an article is moved and creates and air puff.

References Cited in the file of this patent V UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,700,365 Broadmeyer Jan. 29, 1929 2,324,340 Walker et al July 13, 1943 2,334,143 Basquin et a1 Nov. 9, 1943 2,470,926 Gieseke May 24, 1949 

